Archive for October, 2016

Alina works as a content manager at Simtech Development. She is constantly writing CS-Cart e-commerce tips and tutorials in the corporate blog and Facebook group. Follow Simtech Development on Facebook to get to know about the latest articles and news.

Mobile comprises of 34% of all ecommerce transactions worldwide, and it is expected to grow to over 50% in 2017. What is more, 85% of consumers today prefer a mobile application over a mobile website. But does your business need a mobile app and how much is it going to cost you? Let’s make it quickly and clearly.

After surveying representatives from 12 leading mobile development companies, Clutch established the cost of building an iOS only app to be between $38,000 for low functionality to $171,000 for high spec app. High cost is one major reason we advise against building native apps for your business.

We adhere the idea that if you aren’t a pizza delivery company or taxi it’s not so important to invest money in a mobile app, because in most cases it doesn’t not worth it. Firstly you need to determine user preferences and decide whether you really need it or adaptive mobile version will be enough for you.

Anyway as our clients often ask us about mobile apps for CS-Cart, I decided to review the most popular mobile apps for CS-Cart and mobile app builders.

Overview

If you are already a CS-Cart store owner you should definitely know that CS-Cart has its own mobile commerce Twigmo. Twigmo is a set of tools to make CS-Cart store mobile-friendly for customers and merchants.

Twigmo is included by default in CS-Cart starting from version 2.2.1. If you are a CS-Cart user, just log in to your admin panel, go to the Add-ons page, activate Twigmo add-on and connect your store to the Twigmo service. Note that you are able to create your own mobile app in the Platinum plan for $39 a month.

The add-on is fully compatible with the CMS, so it has a lot features in comparison with other applications.

Design

Pricing

Overview

The Mobikul will convert your CS-Cart Store and Multi-Vendor marketplace into a mobile application.

By using this Mobile Application your customers can easily visit your store with their android phones and tablets. They don’t need any laptop or desktop to visit your store, they can use all the features of your store from the mobile application.

Not only your customers but also your sellers can use various features by using their android phones and tablets with this mobile app.

Mobikul CS-Cart Mobile Application is a pre-build mobile app—you just need to configure it with your CS-Cart store through RESTful (web service), change the app name, replace the app icon and banner with your store icon and banner and release it on the play store.

Design

Overview

Apptuse is focused on crafting elegant and native shopping apps for businesses and individuals. The online tool creates an elegant mobile shop app with your existing CS-Cart store with our ready to use integrations. With Apptuse you can create an Android or iOS app instantly without writing a single line of code.
This lets you have a complete native app that integrates with your existing store inventory and makes managing your store hassle-free.

Pricing

Apptuse has 2 available pricing plans: Startup and Business. If you want to have a white labelled app and all inclusive package (for more information please contact Apptuse) the minimum price will be $399 per month.

Design

With a big amount of purpose-built content blocks, integrations and colors, Apptuse presents a number of different combinations.

Overview

MobiCart is a fully managed SaaS solution, from web hosting, to updates and support.

MobiCart works on its own, or links up to your existing website. MobiCart integrates seamlessly with Paypal, ZooZ and Stripe to give you a range of payment gateways to implement. Cash on delivery is also supported.

Key features

User-friendly and clean interface.

Seamless integration with your current store.

CSV product importer.

Access to the source code.

Ability to import Twitter feed.

Ability to upload your company logo and choose your color scheme.

Ability to send unlimited push notifications.

Pricing

MobiCart has a very flexible system of pricing from Free Plan to Pro Plan. If you want to get access to the source code, it will cost you about $100 per month.

Pricing

The cost of installation and full customization of the application is USD 9,500.

Design

The design is very nice and user-friendly, so that your customers will find it easy to swipe and click around to find what they want. Using superfast checkout with auto fillings, buying takes just a few minutes.

Mobile App Builders

Of course, there are solutions that will help you build a mobile app on your own. Mobile app builders allow you to create advanced applications for smartphones and tablets with no technical knowledge.

If your budget does not allow for a full custom app or you just want to try a mobile app on for size and test the app marketplace, these app building tools will help you get up and running.

There is no doubt that a mobile app makes you accessible to customers at all times and increases brand recognition, but you see that it may hit your wallet. If you choose to use a mobile app, do not forget that you need to get a qualified support. Does this company provide support? Who will resolve bugs and issues that may appear at any moment? Clear these moments before the purchase.

Alex, a Security Operation Analyst at a global cybersecurity company, is interested in different topics on eCommerce marketing, along with other cybersecurity concerns like endpoint protection for enterprises. Her blogs oftentimes focus on technology, business, marketing, and cloud-integration aspects. eCommerce websites are prone to malicious threats, that’s why she’s sharing some tips on how to secure your eCommerce website.

One of the biggest problems being faced by businesses engaged in ecommerce is keeping the security of their ecommerce sites. Addressing this issue will help the ecommerce industry grow even more. So what should a business do to secure its site from risks? The following can help them out.

Choose a Secure Platform for Your Ecommerce Site

The first step in securing your ecommerce site is establishing it on a secure platform. The platform that you’re picking should have hefty features and shouldn’t not take security lightly.

A good example of a secure platform is CS-Cart. Taking it from CS-Cart itself:

CS‑Cart has been created and developed by a team of professionals since 2005. Not a community of artists, this is a team of highly qualified full-time professionals. That’s why our ecommerce tools are much more secure than Magento or PrestaShop. If we find a bug, we fix it at our quickest pace.

Ensure That Your Payment Processing is on a Secured Connection

Ensure that cyber crooks will find it very difficult, if not impossible, to tap into your payment processing systems. Use a secured connection by implementing Secure Sockets Layers (SSL) or the improved Extended Validation Secure Sockets Layer.

For the highest standards in connection security, make sure that you are compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). For example, CS-Cart supports SSL and adheres to PCI Standards.

Avoid Storing Sensitive Data

The less data you store, the less risk is posed. PCI actually forbids the storage of sensitive data, such as debit or credit card numbers and the card verification value (CVV).

Verify Credit Card Transactions

Avoid fraudulent credit card transactions by employing address verification systems, as well as by requiring the card verification value.

Educate Your Employees

A good strategy in keeping the security of your ecommerce site is keeping your employees educated of security protocols. This reduces the chance for them in falling to tricks by cyber crooks.

Monitor Your Ecommerce Site Regularly

Make an effort in ensuring that your site is monitored by a real-time analytics tool. Also discuss monitoring protocols with your web host which, should include malware and virus scans.

Utilize DDoS Protection and Mitigation Service

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) is an attack from multiple sources which overwhelms the site, and ultimately makes the service unavailable. Protection against such an attack is vital.

Deal with Fraudulent Transactions Head On

Having fraud management and chargeback management services is a practical contingency plan in dealing with fraudulent transactions. It is best to be ready when this kind of transactions slip as you will never be able to fully prevent them from coming.

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How to upgrade: If you have an active upgrade subscription or purchased the license less than a year ago, check the Administration → Upgrade center page in your admin panel. You’ll see the available upgrade there within a week.

How to install CS-Cart 4.3.10 from scratch:Get the installation package, install, and test CS-Cart for 30 days for free. To continue using CS-Cart after the trial period, buy the license.

Multi-Vendor: eBay Synchronization isn’t Shut Down, When a Vendor Logs in to the Admin Panel

In Multi-Vendor, there is the main administrator as well as many vendors. Each vendor has his or her personal admin panel. The main admin controls the whole marketplace, sets it up, and manages all the settings including add-ons. Some admins use a paid add-on, eBay Synchronization, which allows exporting products to eBay. This add-on requires a separate license.

Every time the main administrator logs in to the admin panel, the eBay Synchronization add-on connects to our licensing system to confirm the license. By a mistake, the add-on was connecting to our licensing system when a vendor logged in to his personal admin panel, too.

Vendors don’t have any license for eBay Synchronization, because it’s the main admin who manages all the licenses. Since the license wasn’t confirmed, the add-on stopped working for the whole store.

We’ve now fixed this issue: eBay Synchronization connects to confirm the license only when the main admin logs in to the admin panel.

Multi-Vendor: Customers Can Pay with PayPal Express Checkout When They Have Products of Different Vendors in the Cart

PayPal Express Checkout has a convenient feature—In-Context Checkout. It allows customers to pay via PayPal without leaving your store for the PayPal website.

One client discovered a bug: a shopper couldn’t pay for the order via PayPal Express Checkout with In-Context Checkout enabled if the order included products of several vendors. After a shopper hit the pay button, the page was redirected back to checkout. The notice said the shopper cancelled the transaction when he didn’t.

In Multi-Vendor 4.3.10, PayPal Express Checkout works correctly with the enabled In-Context Checkout.

Idle Administrators Cannot Use API to Manage the Store

A CS-Cart store can have multiple administrators. Each admin has his or her privileges and manages the store according to those privileges. You can add, delete, disable admins, and set privileges for them. For example, you can add a new admin but deny him the ability to change the store’s look or manage the catalog. If you totally disable the admin, he won’t be able to manage the store at all.

Besides managing the store directly in the admin panel, administrators can also manage it via API. By using an API client, an admin connects to the store and edits products, orders, shipments, and other data. All without entering the admin panel.

Before, admins with the Disabled status could still operate the store via API. In CS-Cart 4.3.10, we’ve fixed this bug. Now, if you disable an admin, he cannot manage the store—neither via the admin panel nor via the API client.

Store Locator is Updated to Work with Google Maps after October 12

Many store owners have both brick-and-mortar and online stores. To inform online customers that there is also the brick-and-mortar store, store owners add a map showing its location to the online store.

Say you manage a coffee-shop chain and sell coffee. You sell your high-grade coffee in your online store and you offer customers the chance to taste your coffee first at one of your coffee shops. Use the Store Locator add-on to show locations of your coffee shops around the city.

Store Locator fetches maps from Google maps. Google has updated their maps API: everyone must use the API key now to connect to maps. This mandatory condition takes effect October 12. After that date, your Store Locator add-on stops working with Google Maps. No matter whether you used the API key before or not.

To enable maps after October 12, you should do two things:

Upgrade to CS-Cart 4.3.10. This new version has the updated Store Locator add-on that works with the fresh Google API.

Add the API key to Store Locator.Obtain the key and insert it to the API key field on the Add-ons → Manage add-ons → Store locator page.

As well as these major fixes, CS-Cart 4.3.10 features more. Check out all the changes in the changelog.

Please report any bugs to the bug tracker. We do see all the reports and we take care of each and every one.

To keep up with the latest news, follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to CS-Cart newsletters via the form below to receive notifications about each new version direct to your mailbox.